The 2 Agency Models are Kinda Cooked

Sam Carlson

29d • General discussion

You know which agencies are kinda cooked?

Web design agencies. SEO shops.

Sorry.

And most of them don't even see it yet.

I'm not trying to fear monger... but I call it like I see it and here's what I'm seeing in real time:

Agencies who used to get paid $8,000 for a website... their clients are now using Wix AI, Framer, or Lovable to get something that's 95% as good.

In an afternoon.

Agencies who built their entire model on "we build beautiful websites" are having a harder time landing clients than ever before.

Their MRR is trending down.

And there's no obvious way to build it back up.

Ouchy.

SEO isn't much better.

Google's algorithm has been AI-driven for a while now. And what that did was kill the bottom half of the market.

The $1,500/month "we'll publish blogs and build links" agencies?

AI does that now. Faster. Cheaper.

And the local business owner who was buying it...

He's tired of waiting 9 months to maybe rank on page one.

He wants clients now. Not next year.

(To be fair — high-end technical SEO still exists. It's just a shrinking, more competitive market that local businesses aren't really a part of.)

The technical moat these agencies depended on?

Going... going... gone.

...

So what do you do?

You go where AI can't follow.

And right now, that place is paid ads.

"Oh Sam, you're just saying that. I see people saying AI can do ads too."

Those people have clearly never run lead gen for a local business.

I'll explain.

Running ads isn't just a technical skill.

It's a trust game.

Local business owners:

The chiropractor

The HVAC company

The dentist

All of them have been burned.

Maybe they clicked "boost post." Their $100 went POOF.

(Fun side story: A Facebook rep told me at a conference that they can't even get a local business to spend more than $50 total on boosted ads. That's how bad it is.)

They've hired some kid who "does Facebook ads."

They've signed with an agency that "guaranteed 30 booked appointments or it's free."

And after all that... you think they're handing their budget over to an AI?

Hell no.

They want a person.

Someone who can sit across from them (or hop on a Zoom) and say: "Here's exactly what we're going to do. Here's why it works. Here's what you'll see in 30 days."

That human layer of strategy, accountability, and trust?

AI cannot replicate it.

Not today. Not anytime soon.

...

But here's where things get interesting...

The agencies who are going to dominate the next 5 years aren't running ads the old way. (Manual everything inside Ads Manager.)

They're using AI as a profit multiplier.

For example:

Old model: One account manager. 8-10 clients. Burned out. Barely profitable.

New model: One account manager. AI-assisted. 50-100 clients. Leveraged. Printing cash.

Also... the work doesn't get worse... it gets better.

Effortless ad creation.

Smarter strategies.

More consistent results.

And here's the part that matters most:

YOUR expertise — the strategy, the niche knowledge, the client relationship — that's still 100% human.

That's what they're paying for.

That's YOUR MOAT!

When you're the person who understands how to get a roofing company 40 booked estimates a month using paid ads?

You don't compete on price. You name your price.

Because you're not a vendor anymore.

You're a partner.

Expertise becomes the product.

AI becomes the factory.

The agency that figures this out first in their market wins.

Not eventually.

Now.

...

So what are the next steps?

If you want the model, the skills, and the fastest path from where you are now to a bulletproof ad agency...

Start at .

That's where the expertise gets built. That's where the Ad Franchise model lives. Four weeks. Dangerous owner. Done.

And once you have the skills?

UpHex is what you run it all through.

It was built by in-the-trench agency owners... and you can tell because it slaps. (That's what the kids say)

That's why every competitor who's tried to take us on has fallen off the map.

Let UpHex handle the execution.

You handle the growth.

That's leverage.

Your Move.

Sam

P.S. We do have a price increase going on in MVP. There's more needs for higher touch implementation and so the price must increase to meet those needs.

So if you've been considering it... don't wait.

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